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Disasters at work

Cored through a few cables been through a ceiling had a couple mini floods, and never forget to check your boys drain off cocks cos the lad on my old firm forgot to tighten his in and black water everywhere
 
There was a bloke who burnt a house down on the old firm I worked for, before I started there. Soldering in loft and things got out of hand, apparently the roof tiles were popping off like fireworks, whole house burnt down because it was in a really awkward spot for the fire engine to get too!

When I was a 1st year apprentice my boss asked me to put the blow lamp onto an elbow on the outisde of the house, while he twisted it straight with a pair of grips, so off I go. Turns out it was a gas pipe and the gas was still on, he twisted it and it came out the fitting! all I saw was a fire ball go over my head, i'm running around like :willy_nilly:and my boss comes out puts a claw hammer through the customers meter box and turns gas off! Lucky it didn't burn back really.

I've put core drills through ring mains a few times, normally when they run the cables in the 150mm 'safe zone' in the corners, pity they don't feckin tell anyone about them! (only found out when i did 17th)

I forgot to cap off the return from a coil once when doing a standard to combi, filled up and was wondering why it was taking so long, took me a few minutes then I remembered. ran upstairs and lifted the floorboard to find about 2 inches of water sitting on this ceiling, how it stayed up i'll never know!
Ran down and put a hole in the ceiling in a few places and it was gushing out, filled one of those big gorilla tubs up. Went back a few days later and painted the ceiling and everything was fine!

I mate put a 16mm flat bit in the end of a makita cordless through a lead sheathed incoming electric main in an old cottage which was semi buried in the wall and really hard to spot, looked like he'd seen a ghost. The worse thing was they had daisy chained the main into next door as well so both houses lost power and the electric board had to cut and resin block the main live which cost the company a fair few quid!
 
tamz said:
Cored right through an incoming electric supply a couple of years ago.
Semi concealed box, coring a 1 1/2" hole through the wall in the pyshing rain and bang. Main electric cable rose in the cavity. I went straight through it. Put the full street off and blew the teeth off my core bit. Never got a shock tho until the bill from Scottish Power came in. That was another one of my lives used up, can't have many left now :lol:

I once knew a builder who went through a 6" medium pressure main with a jcb. He emigrated to south africa when he got the 35 grand bill in for that one (early 1980's).
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I'll spend the extra few pounds then for some metal conduit for the meter tails I'm running in a cavity on my rewire next week then. I wasn't sure whether or not to before tbh 🙂
 
I don't think it would have mattered if it was in a steel conduit Keiran. I would have probably drilled through that too but might have felt the drill bounce a bit when i caught it and stopped. Some protection is better than none.
It was the incoming armoured cable i hit.
 
at least these type of things happen to the best of us, even though you get pelters off everyone when it does happen and you feel as if your the only muppet that has these disasters haha
 
Snapped a not controlled gas main in a kitchen ! Transco had to dig the road and turn off the gas to the drew. No charge to anyone as they did leave uncontroled gas main supply in the kitche 1" ....
 
Moving a stopcock for an extension i cracked the stop out in the street to flush, the detritus from the pipework before connecting back up. The stop failed in the process 2 1/2 hours later water board turned up. I now have my own squeeze clamp

:bigcry:
 
Did you bend it over by hand and cable tie it?

I've had to do that once when I got called out to a job where a trenching machine had ripped up a water main. No isolation at the stopcock, so bent it over and then over again and cable tied it so the pressure wouldn't straighten it out again. Stopped it to a dribble. I then called the water board and got the isolation sorted.

The trenching machine was a beast. A fencing company were using it. Ripped the main in about 6 places.
 
Dannypipe said:
Did you bend it over by hand and cable tie it?

I've had to do that once when I got called out to a job where a trenching machine had ripped up a water main. No isolation at the stopcock, so bent it over and then over again and cable tied it so the pressure wouldn't straighten it out again. Stopped it to a dribble. I then called the water board and got the isolation sorted.
The trenching machine was a beast. A fencing company were using it. Ripped the main in about 6 places.
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There wont room, it was in a cavity under concrete floor only just fitted the clamp in
 
just back from a meeting today, that little gas main incident has went right up to the top brass of scottish gas, as it was on a SG contract they aren't too happy, boy that done it is kicked off contract for good
 
no i haven't, but the fellow who caused it has, because it had the potential for an explosion BG are taking it very seriously
 
the difference between pro and diy is how we deal with the disasters i had the top come of a gate valve in a hospital and held it for 20 mins till they got it drained burnt nearly a half inch deep hole in my hand but it was that or flood 7 floors
 
I've just noticed this is now in the plumbers arms. Obviously too near the knuckle for the general public :lol:
in the words of Freddie
And bad mistakes, i've made a few.
We all have. It is how we learn best. Make a major fk up and you will never do it again.
As Steve said tho, how you deal with it is what matters.
Sometime we just deal with it as best we can and just face the music.
 
I don't think there's a link between age and retarded, if there is there may a strong case for it being inversely proportional going by some of the apprentices around these days..
 

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